The present invention relates generally to home appliance control and, more particularly, to a system using a fiber optic cable to distribute commands for controlling operations of an appliance.
In the art it is known to use an infrared (IR) blaster to transmit commands for controlling operations of one or more appliances. For example, as described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,247, manufacturers have provided appliances, such as cable converter boxes, with the ability to remotely control the operation of another appliance, such as a VCR. To this end, the controlling appliance is provided with an IR blaster which is used to transmit commands from the controlling appliance to a controlled appliance. In this regard, the controlling appliance may transmit commands to the controlled appliance via the IR blaster in direct response to receipt of commands from a remote control or from yet another appliance and/or the controlling appliance may transmit commands to the controlled appliance via the IR blaster as a result of its programming (for example, to transmit commands to cause the VCR to record a program at a designated, programmed time). To be compatible with the controlled appliance, the controlling appliance may be configured to use an appropriate set of commands that may be selected from a library of commands stored within the controlling appliance. In addition, the controlling appliance may be configured by learning the appropriate set of commands from, for example, a remote control or by having the appropriate set of commands downloaded thereinto from, for example, the Internet, the controlled appliance, or the like. Still further, the controlling appliance may function to merely pass through commands that are received from a remote control or another appliance. Another example of a system that uses an IR blaster to control operations of one or more appliances is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,086. It is also known to use IR blasters in so called remote extender applications, such as the RF to IR system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,647.
Known IR blasters generally include one or more electrical cables each having an attached IR LED. In this manner, the IR LED may be positioned in front of and near the IR receiver of the appliance to be controlled by, for example, placing it on or attaching it to the surface on which the appliance is resting or taping the IR LED directly over the IR receiver of the appliance. While these known IR blasters operate for their intended purpose, what is needed is an improved IR blaster, for example, one which may be more economically manufactured.